Future Developments

KCABS aims continually to improve access to its service, and intends to extend its service to an even wider number of the community through increased provision of telephone advice and additional outreach locations. In order to achieve our objectives, we have the following plans for future work and developments:

1. Access to Our Service, Monitoring and Assessing the Service

• Review systems each year to ensure the service is still meeting needs, especially in light of changes in the operating environment - for example, the Legal Service Commission plans for the provision of public-funded legal advice.
• Set target for optimum number of advisers taking into account their support needs and develop strategy to recruit to this number.
• Engage in a project to establish electronic mechanisms for gathering data from clients to enable us to help more people and focus our resources appropriately

2. Increase Provision Of Our Service To Young People

• Set a target for optimum number of students to recruit per year and recruit this number
• Ensure that funding secured for an additional year for the Students Union project.
• Explore further work with schools on financial literacy and citizenship.

3. Maintaining Excellent External Relationship

• Continue links with key partnerships  -see above -and see what joint funding bids can be submitted.
• Continue work on the Advisers' Forum.
• Establish our position as the Host Agency for the Local Involvement Network which is a channel for communication between health and social care users and providers
• Continue to assess the operating environment for our work and confirm where we should collaborate and where we should compete with other organisations..

4. Providing Efficient Staff Structure And Support For Staff

• Explore further e-learning and other methods to ensure that staff training needs are met.
• Continue with system of annual and half yearly appraisals for all staff to identify training needs and assess how effectively these have been met.
• Review our management structure in light of the changed operating environment which is now more competitive due to the contract culture of commissioning services rather than grant funding

5. Increase Income

• Assess the feasibility of increasing income from the Legal Services Commission given the requirements of additional subject areas and cross borough working.
• Further develop partnerships with other Kingston groups and neighbouring CABx so we are in a strong position for partnership bids.

6. Engage More In Campaigning For Change

• Continue to monitor work to see if local campaign necessary.
• Continue to respond to national initiatives
• Ensure that new staff are fully engaged in campaign work

7. Maintaining External Quality Accreditation

• Ensure that policies are implemented so that we remain in strong position to pass next audit.